Forge of the Unmourned
DM * Kayro Players * Amber / Su, changeling bard. * Powers, halfling ranger * Regis, shifter paladin * Relic, warforged artificer Introduction Each of the Wayfinders are delivered a note as part of their newest mission Dear Wayfinders, I hope this finds you well. I have recommended each of you personally for this mission. My cousin Jaci Vown of House Cannith needs your help. Her mother and a number of other volunteers recently went missing trying to recover the bodies of those they lost to an accident in a creation forge four years ago. We wish to know the fate of the volunteer team and to rescue them if possible as well as to complete the recovery of the bodies lost to time. Jaci awaits you at the Busy Badger Bed and Breakfast in Dancing Shadows. I have offered her what little help and consultation I can on the matters of this mission and she can fill you in what I know, however there are many things neither of us know. I am sorry I do not have more information for you. Thank you, Reva Arya d'Cannith A second package is sent to Regis. Regis, I am sending this to you as a trusted friend and as paladin of the Silver Flame. As you shall learn from my cousin, the forgemaster was a cruel man with a talent for necromancy. I do not know what alterations he made to the creation forge, but his experiments suggest there have been some. I am hopeful what I have included shall not be required, but if it is, you shall have only ten minutes from the time of activation to get as far away as possible. Best, Reva Regis finds included in the package a small explosive device with a button. Next to it is an extremely basic diagram of a creation forge. Although it is far too simple to matter to most, it is clear Reva is preventing any chance of revealing House secrets. The only important detail is an indication as to where in the forge the device should be placed --------- The Wayfinders make their way to the Blue Badger Bed and Breakfast where they are shown to the private room of Jaci Vown. She is a small woman and has a nervous demeanor. She has sat out chairs for the group and she herself sits on the bed in the room. She smiles to them. "I'm so glad you're here. Cousin Reva said you Wayfinders could help me out. I really hope you can." Expedition Summary The Beginning of the Journey Sharn - Meeting with Jaci The Wayfinders met with Jaci who provided them as much information as possible on the lost Cannith facility as well as the members of her family who had previously tried to recover the bodies. In addition to providing for their transportation, Jaci also provided the group with a voucher for a cart from her family. Starilusker - The Cannith Cart Shop The Wayfinders chose to depart the Lightning Rail from Starilusker. Once there, they discovered the cart maker had been the victim of vandalism. Although unable to find the vandals, the Wayfinders were able to clear the graffiti from the carts with simple spells. Felicity The Wayfinders stopped by a small town called Felicity. The town took them in and offered them a place to stay and a meal. The townfolk were able to let them know about increased goblin activity in the mountain area. Before leaving, they Wayfinders met with Father Vidal, the town leader. He was able to scry on Jaci's mother, Leanne d'Cannith and prove she was alive, though taken as a captive by goblin forces. Arrival at Wyrn's Peak Meeting the Night's Guard Clan On arriving in the mountains, the Wayfinders were surrounded by a scouting party of goblins. The Wayfinders spoke with them and learned they were part of the Night's Guard clan, and were not associated with the Goblins who had taken Leanne as captive, the Dancing Swords. The Dancing Swords were using the old Cannith location as their fortress. The Wayfinders and the Night's Guard discussed their shared dislike and decided to work together. In order to make sure the Wayfinders were capable, one of the leaders of the Night's Guard, known as Verrinx led them to intercept a Dancing Swords patrol. The Wayfinders quickly dispatched the patrol, taking the patrol as prisoners. The Wayfinders and Night's Guard created a plan to assault the position of the Dancing Swords and free the Cannith Captives. Amber's Infiltration Amber interrogated the leader of the scout patrol that was taken captive and took his form. She made her way back to the Dancing Swords location and managed to fool the other members of the clan. For losing a patrol, she was whipped by the leader of the clan but afterwards given free range of the fortress. After being whipped, Amber found the Cannith captives. She coordinated with them to help them escape by sending the rest of the guards away so she could pretend to whip the prisoners. Retaking the Fortress As Amber freed the Cannith forces, she signaled for the assault from her friends and the Night's Guard to begin. The Night's Guard attacked first from the north, distracting the enemies in one direction while Relic breached the wall of the fortress, allowing the Night's Guard to pour in while the Dancing Swords were distracted. The team moved in, fighting the enemies in mass until they eventually attracted the attention of the leader of the Dancing Swords, Guul'Sharaat. Guul' Sharaat and his troops nearly bested the Wayfinders, but the group managed to decapitate him, ending the fight as the moral of the Dancing Swords died with their warlord. After defeating the Dancing Swords, the Wayfinders rested and prepared for their assault on the Cannith Forge, getting what little information they could from Leanne about what it had been like in the past. The Forge Meeting the Forgemaster On arriving to the Forge, the Wayfinders discovered that there was a recent hole that opened into the facility caused by members of the Dancing Swords. The goblins who had managed to get into the facility with a few inert Warforged nearby. On entering, the Wayfinders discovered that the warforged were not true warforged, but rather animated undead with warforged bodies. The Death Forged had been a project of Hastus d'Cannith the Forgemaster. Before they had been in the room long, they met Hastus. His ghost appeared to them, and his voice echoed from the walls. He and two of his Death-Forged proceeded to fight the Wayfinders. During the fight, Hastus was able to possess Relic. The Wayfinders dragged the possessed Relic out of the Forge. In doing so, Hastus left Relic, and the Wayfinders realized his spirit was bound to the Forge Complex. Although Hastus lost to the Wayfinders in the first fight, it was clear he was still alive, and able control aspects of the Forge Complex around them. Anvil and the Vault Just down the hall from the initial point of entry, the Wayfinders came across a sealed vault that seemed warded against undead. They were able to discern muttering from inside and eventually realized it to be the voice of a warforged. Although he struggled to communicate, they were able to learn his name was Anvil and that he had been trapped there for some time. While talking to Anvil through the door, Amber used the name "d'Cannith" to refer to Jaci, who had been unmarked when Anvil was last aware of her. This was the key to Anvil knowing the Wayfinders were real and not another trick of Hastus. At this, Anvil began to reveal more to them, however Hastus interrupted with his voice, preventing Anvil from revealing any more. Anvil chose to remain in the vault until Hastus was eliminated. The Ritual Circles Continuing forward, the Wayfinders discovered a ritual circle with three sacrificed bodies around it. Relic was able to undo the ritual, however he was also able to discern it was one of three locations that were anchoring Hastus to the facility, giving him the ability to keep returning as a spirit as long as the circles were in place. Hastus was unable to get any of his Death-Forged to the circle in time before Relic disabled it, however now aware of another artificer present, he began to reinforce his other locations. The second circle was located in what had been Hastus's quarters. Here, Hastus awaited them three Deathforged, one of which he was possessing. Again the Wayfinders bested the enemies, and Relic disabled the circle. As Relic worked, Amber found Hastus's journal. It revealed that the explosion that had damaged the facility had happened as a result of a struggle between Hastus and some of his artificers who felt his experiments were crossing the line. Following the explosion, rather than working to help free the other workers from the ruins, Hastus worried he would lose his life's work. He chose to kill and sacrifice the remaining workers in order to give himself a form of immortality. Continuing on from the third circle, the Wayfinders descended to the forge's main room, with an entrance to the forge itself right next to them. In this room, Hastus awaited them in his preserved body and more DeathForged. During the fight, even more Deathforged began to emerge from the forge, forcing the Wayfinders to shut it down. The Wayfinders managed to prevail against Hastus one final time. Following his defeat, the Wayfinders were aware that Hastus could still come back if given time, so Relic moved to quickly to disable the final ritual circle. As he did so, the facility became free once more. Returning After the defeat of Hastus, the Wayfinders collected the bodies of those originally lost, except for Hastus, and freed Anvil, preparing to return with their job finished. However, as they exited the Forge, Relic revealed he would be leaving the other Wayfinders behind, retiring to help save his people. He took his time to say farewell to the team and the rest headed off to finish their job, Relic's absence masked by an explosion which they claimed was an improperly timed detonation. Epilogues Scene 1: Vathirond Jaci Vown looked over the crowd gathered. A few dozen people were in attendance at the memorial, all of them members of the House. There were the direct family members, the ones who had been there in the town like she and her mother had, and there were a few relatives who knew the dead from before. A number of their families however were not in attendance. There were those lost in Cyre and even more who had already said goodbye many years before. The bodies had their own section of a cemetery. Each recovered body, and a few who had not been recovered, had their own plot and marker, save for one. Hastus's name was nowhere to be found. Even when they had read the names aloud, it was agreed his would be omitted. No one objected. No one from his line took offense. He had wanted immortality, and they agreed they would not grant it to him even as a memory. In the middle of the grave plots there was a walkway that led up to a statue Jaci had recently finished. It simple pillar with the Gorgon Insignia of the House. Underneath that are the names of those lost, listed alphabetical followed by the claim that those who passed were "loyal servants of the House, who died serving it and each other". A smaller seal of the House is placed below. This was a statue they had long planned. However, Jaci had taken a liberty and added an additional bit of writing. Once thought lost, our family is given rest by the brave actions of Amber Colworn, Powers Cranstone, Regis Dynahier and the noble sacrifice of Relic. Scene 2: Wryn's Peak Verrinx looked out over the newly established fortress. It had been fortunate the adventurers had come through. Causalities had been reduced, healing had been provided. Overall, a good victory for his people. One of his officers approached him, the head of a scout party. "Verrinx, the situation has not improved. We told you of the forged seen near the mists-edge. Now there are sounds from inside the ruined complex." "I have consulted with the lhesh-nu," Verrinx spoke a half truth, "We believe the forged from the mist-lands likely came hearing the explosion. They will have no interest in us. As for the sounds, it is likely the rock settles still from the explosion. It is possible that entire area of the mountain is weak. We shall back all patrols from that side and instead reinforce watches. Is not worth losing our people to a landslide." The officer nodded and headed off. Verrinx thought over the actual conversation he had with the lhesh'nu. The probability the group had lied to them and the likelihood such a skilled artificer would mishandle an explosive they had brought with them. However, the Cannith people had seemed to believe the lie, and Verrinx had certainly believed the changeling when she spoke. But, as his sister had pointed out, so had their enemy. Verrinx had picked out a small group of his most trusted scouts, ones he would be leading to keep an eye on the area while the rest of the patrols stayed in the walls. If his sister was right, and something was going on, they needed to know what. Scene 3: The Village of Felicity The daily meditations had concluded and the townsfolk had left feeling refreshed and invigorated. Alone the offices of the old church a young looking half-elf sat in his chair, eyes glowing a bright white. A worn statue of an a priest held beautiful staff of Irian Rosewood. Around the statue, the temple was dark and empty. With the staff, he could lead Felicity to an even brighter future. He would a way to help channel the energy, but he fortunately knew of a group of Cannith's who may be interested in work. And as for retrieving the staff, he could do it, but he'd rather not leave the town without it's healer. Fortunately, he'd also recently met a group of seemingly quite skilled explorers. Category:Expedition